Love Like Morphine
by Acrimony
Summary: To Xigbar, Tidus was very much like Morphine. But, unlike the Opium Based Drug Tidus had him hooked. Xigdus. Happy Birthday Psycho Rooster. Ilu.
1. First Movement

**Love Like Morphine  
**Kingdom Hearts  
_Acrimony -- Stealthe-Chan_

Xigbar Rasted was not a dreamer. If he had anything but sheer contempt towards the idealistic-constructed wishes, it would be utter sardonic disdain. At the mere age of twenty-two, the ebony-haired male was a part time college student; majoring in art- as was evident by the copious amount of time Xigbar spent on the balcony, palette lying on his lap with a canvas standing in front of him.

Ah. The Balcony. Possibly one of the only good things about his small house. After graduating from High School and starting College, Xigbar had flushed a large portion of his savings in order to cover the expense of the house, along with most of his inheritance. But, reflecting back now; it was indefinitely a good choice.

After all, if Xigbar hadn't bought the house, he never would have met _him_. But we're jumping ahead of ourselves already.

* * *

Xigbar was not exactly a very caring person, he did not _care_ that the sky was blue as long as it stayed the same colour so that he wouldn't have to repaint the sky scenes a different colour, he did not care that Axel and Roxas were going to the freakin' beach for some kind of a romantic dinner and he did not care at all when Demyx –the bumbling idiot- came literally _bounding_ towards him ecstatically shouting that some rich person had bought the house up the road. Yeah, the klutz actually thought that he'd be interested in this who 'I have a new neighbour' thing, but he wasn't. It was Demyx Mizuno who didn't even _live_ around the bloody area who cared. 

The musician had smiled and yelled somewhat excitedly that he simple _had_ to meet the 'awesomely cool pretty boy neighbour of yours' (to quote the hyperactive blonde). Staring blankly at Demyx with the only visible golden eye, Xigbar shrugged before telling his 'friend' exactly what he thought about meeting the boy. And not much of it was nice ("I don't give a fuck about this kid who moved up the fuckin' street, Mizuno. Now get the fuck out of my face so I can fucking finish painting!"), but you get the point. Xigbar, to put it simply, had no wish to meet his new 'neighbour'.

The first few days after the 'New Boy' (Once again, Quote Demyx) passed by in melancholic dullness. Not that Xigbar expected otherwise. And yet there was a soft hum of anticipation dancing in the air, what it was, Xigbar didn't know. And he didn't care.

Well, maybe not then.

* * *

The first time Xigbar ever laid an eye on Tidus Faye was, for lack of a better word, very _weird_. You see, Xigbar, as an artist, loved and drew inspiration from the sun as it cast elongated shadows across houses and trees, painting the usually azure sky a tapestry of multi-coloured lights. And this is probably the only reasoning as to why he woke up relatively early only to head towards the balcony, coffee in hand; and paint. 

Tidus Faye, like Xigbar, also adored the sun. Hey, there has to be a reason as to why Tidus means sun anyhow. Despite an internal alarm that decreed that he wake up exactly one and a half hours before his new school started (the school was twenty minutes away driving-wise), he had a very bad feeling prior to this morning that he would be late. And well, he didn't want to tarnish his Late Record on the first day of school. Or whatever the hell the people called it these days.

Having only moved in three days ago, the cerulean-eyed blonde was still basking in the euphoria of his emancipation. The mere thought of school making him wish that graduating wasn't actually a part of the agreement he had made. That, and there was a small part of him that nagged at him incessantly over the fact that if he actually intended to be a '_somebody_' he would most likely need to have graduated from High School and then College.

It seemed like only months ago he had managed to calm himself down before negotiating in a voice void of all emotions with his parents. He did _not_ want to stay with them. If anything, he wanted out. Many would say that Tidus was a selfish, spoilt little brat. But he begged to differ. He was only really a conniving ass to those who deserved it. And his parents definitely deserved it. So, after a helluva lot of haggling and 'compromising' Tidus Faye had wound up here.

At Number 19, Ebony Place on Second Avenue. The only remotely crazy thing about it was the stupid looking rooster donning the top of the roof, but Tidus disregarded the silly, metal thing. The sight of it basking in the sun's delicate light during the morning and evening was enough to deem it worthy of perching on top of his house. It was a stupid thing indeed. But the blonde boy doubted that Ebony Place would really be Ebony Place without it.

Digressing.

The first time Xigbar ever laid eyes on one Tidus Faye, the blonde had been walking down Second Avenue- Second Avenue being the same street that they both inhabited. And as usual, the golden-eyed artist was on the balcony again, brush stroking delicately across the previously blank canvas; weaving a delicate tapestry of whatever whim he had. Occasionally, leaning back to survey his work as he dropped his painting arm down the side of the chair; simply content in absorbing the lush scenery that Second Avenue displayed so beautifully.

Tidus, in the mean time, was tugging at the collar of his shirt. A small pout creasing over his features as his brow wrinkled with distaste at the prospect of having to put up with this _uniform_ for the rest of the year. Now, don't get it wrong, Tidus didn't _hate_ uniforms, he just had a strong dislike of the colours. Ocean green was the simple button-up shirt and grey slacks along with black shoes accompanied the ensemble. With the top three buttons undone and a grey tie hanging sombrely from the collar, the blue eyed youth was already somewhat annoyed with his new High School. Thankfully, he only needed to complete his senior year and well, that was that.

With a simple black backpack with yellow flaps and the Zanarkand Sbes symbol dancing across it, slung over his left shoulder and a colourful blitzball hugged by his right arm, the blue-eyed youth grinned as he glanced around Second Avenue, the vivid _prettiness_ of the scene prodding his 'I R Gay' senses to life. Having woken up especially early so that he could find his way around to the front office in order to receive his timetable, Tidus thought that maybe it was actually worth waking up early just to see the effect the sun had across the lush area of the Avenue.

Demyx Mizuno was right. The scenery was breath-taking.

* * *

"_Oh my god! **You're** the awesomely rich new dude who bought the house here!?" A sickeningly sweet voice sliced through the crisp and thankfully and previously **silent** air of the early morning. Turning with a look of utter confusion at the source of the silence shattering voice, Tidus Faye looked around just in time to prepare himself for a massiveload of limbs, dirty blonde hair and pretty aquamarine eyes in the form of one overly exuberant male._

_Propping the lively musician up after recovering from the sudden… glompage, Tidus couldn't help but raise a questioning brow over the sudden appearance of the new comer. Having chosen Hollow Bastion as his new home, the blonde teen knew that no-one actually knew he existed yet, and so it was surprising that someone had somehow known he would be there. There was kind of a reason as to why he had the Removal Vans move all of his house necessities in the early morning. _

"_Hi! I'm Demyx! Demyx Mizuno. I don't live here, but my friend does, and you're his new neighbour. Kind of. Well no, Xiggy lives down the road," At this note of realization the youth who introduced himself as 'Demyx Mizuno' frowned and looked slightly downcast, nibbling gently at his bottom lip before looking up with another infectious grin, "But that doesn't matter because you still live in the same area as him. And that's cool!_

"_I was gonna ask Xiggy to come and help you with the moving stuff since you're gonna be his new street neighbour and all but he was too busy painting… But who cares. I can help!," Picking up a box from the open van that parked on the curb of Second Avenue with that same grin that he, himself sometimes wore during states of un-boundable joy before quirking a brow and asking him where to put the box. _

"_Uhm that should go in the Living Room. I think it's my music…" Tidus answered smiling awkwardly back at Demyx as the mohawked male merrily bounded into his house, ignoring the balcony and effectively forgetting the steps. That is, before tripping over in a spectacular show of flying limbs, CDs, cases and banshee-like screeching. _

"_Ohmygod. What the hell!?" Tidus gasped after ten seconds of absolutely **evil** laughter at the dirty-blonde's misfortune. He had carefully sidestepped several CDs ('The Fray – How to Save A Life', 'The Living End – State of Emergency', 'The Killers – Sam's Town' and ohmygod. Was that **Britney Spears**!?) Before approaching the spread-eagled instrumentalist who at that exact moment chose to lift his head, clutching a familiar looking blue-coloured Album and collapsing into a twitching heap of laughter._

"_You- haha- Have got- ha- to be kidding me! **Aqua**!? You like **Aqua**!?" Demyx managed to cackle, ignoring the affronted look that Tidus shot him and instead propping himself up and dusting off imaginary lint. _

"_Hey, **no** I do not like Aqua!" The blonde owner of the CD squawked indignantly, "For your information, Mohawk, the only reason I ever bought Aqua was because Aqua, happens to be a very similar colour to blue. And blue, is my favourite colour"_

_This probably didn't help since Demyx doubled-over in even more laughter at Tidus' expense. Near pouting, Tidus picked up the discarded discs, placed them back into the box and headed inside the house, "I am going to ignore you. I hope you realise I am ignoring you because I am ignoring you and yeah"_

_It was the start of a very hyperactive friendship. That only really kicked off after Demyx finally realised that he didn't even know Tidus' name… _

"_Heeeeey, I don't even know your name, Blondie! Do ya even got one?"_

"_Tidus. Tidus Faye"_

_

* * *

_

Paint brush dabbing gently in a splodge of an ethereal blue before thickly dragging its tip across the top of the canvas, drawing a river of uneven azure sky onto the white. Barely a moment later, the paintbrush was put down onto the palette as the owner of the artistic materials sank back into his chair in order to observe his surroundings. It was never boring, looking at the same tranquillity of Second Avenue. But today, something was different.

Walking down from the top of the hill where his house resided, Tidus hummed merrily, blitzball clutched in his hand as he traipsed towards the bus stop, passing a certain ebony-haired but streaked with silver, painter. Turning slightly to look in awe at the various houses that ornamented the Avenue, Tidus found his gaze settling on a certain two storey house with a balcony decorating the front. And on that balcony… a golden eye rose to meet his curious gaze.

Xigbar had known, of course that someone had bought Ebony Place at the top of the Avenue, but he had never expected him to be so _young_. Was he even old enough to live by himself? And what the hell- was that a blitzball?!

"Good morning!" Tidus chirped as he noticed Xigbar glancing his way. The College student nodded in answer, before arching a brow in an inquisitive manner.

In reply to the inquiring gaze that Xigbar Rasted shot his way, Tidus flashed a dazzling smile back at the painter, before answering the unspoken question.

"I have Blitzball tryouts"

* * *

The next time Xigbar had any remote form of contact with one, Tidus Faye (Excluding the now ritualistic 'good mornings' and 'good afternoons' they exchanged on almost every week day, and _no_ this was _not_ on purpose. It was all completely coincidental, of course. It'd only been going on for a week so far anyhow!), Tidus had been walking back from school, that same grin plastered on his face as he headed up to slope towards Ebony Place. 

"So you got in, huh?" Xigbar's low baritone voice permeated the air as he observed the youth calmly from the balcony. Still sitting back in that same chair but this time painting on an entirely new canvas, the only thing having been painted on the tinted white was a brief sketch of eyes and ruffled, spiky hair.

"Yeah, I did. It was really surprising; I would've thought Sora or someone would've gotten center-forward…" Tidus answered, cradling a set of clothing in his arms. Undoubtedly it was his new sports uniform since the 'Hollow Hawks' colours were Ocean-Green and Gray and well, the clothing was mostly ocean-green.

"Sora? As in, Sora Strife?" At Tidus' eager nod, Xigbar chuckled slightly, "Ah, I remember him. He was a freshman when I was in my senior year, small thing but damn possessive of that Riku fellow…"

"Hey wait. That makes you… twenty-two, right?"

"Yeah. Don't tell me though; I know I look heaps older than that. Fucking Saix"

"I wasn't going to say that, I was just wondering!" A faint dash of pink sprinkled over Tidus' face as he continued boldly on, "And who's Saix?"

"The idiot who gave me _this_," Xigbar jabbed a finger towards his eye patch, noting with a small hint of amusement that Tidus had now left the pathway to favour his balcony with his presence. The blonde's arms were draped over the 'fence' of the porch and his blue eyes were looking at the direction of Xigbar's obscured eye with a look of horrified interest.

"Really?! How?"

"Saix and Larxene were drunk. Larxene, the fucking bitch, managed to persuade Saix to drive us all home since she doesn't trust me with her car, she's a fucking bitch, Axel was completely trashed, she's a bitch, the Shrimp didn't have his license yet; oh, and did I forget to mention that she's a-"

"Fucking bitch? Yeah, you mentioned it" A small trill of laughter flowed like honey from Tidus' throat as Xigbar donned a mocking sullen look before smirking and continuing his story.

"Yeah, well, to make a not-so-long story even shorter, Saix managed to crash us into a car. I had a shard of glass stab me in the eye 'cause I was in the back seat in the middle, tryin' to stop Axel from molesting the Shrimp who at the time was trying to tell us all that Saix shouldn't drive, period. Sober or no," Laughter, "I'm inclined to believe him since I figured that being drunk doesn't do anything to Saix's driving 'skills' 'cause the fucking retard just can't drive. Must be all of that sadistic crap he and Larxene are always goin' on about. But at least it doesn't prevent me from painting"

"You pai-" Tidus was cut short as all of a sudden Jesse McCartney's 'Right Where You Want Me' blasted from the pocket of grey slacks ("Baby, take me on a journey, I've been thinkin' lately I could use a little time alone with you"). Flipping the black Motorola RAZR –Xigbar shuddered, _everyone_ had that phone. Even Lar-fucking-xene! - open and answering it with a cheerful, 'Hello?' before pouting cutely, hanging up and turning back to Xigbar.

"Hey, Uhm, I gotta go. Sor wants me to finish of the assignment we've got. But hey, I'll talk to you some other time, okay?" After the painter's nod in consent Tidus grinned cheerily before pretty much skipping up the hill.

"Oh by the way, I'm Tidus!"

"Xigbar"

* * *

The next three weeks passed by in a blur of complete boredom for Xigbar. He had finished off a painting and had continued to sketch out the portrait he had been working on so many days before. By now, the face had a more definite shape, and a helluva lot of attention was paid to the sparkling eyes. But, like the currently bland portrait, there was a ray of light in all of this boredom. And that came in the form of that Tidus Faye. 

Every day, early in the morning when Tidus would traipse down to the bus stop he'd stop for a good fifteen minutes in order to chatter idly with the artist; the small talk varying anywhere from Xigbar's inspiration when painting all the way to the type of hair gel Tidus used. The same thing would happen in the afternoons as the blonde finished up school, but not once did he ever muster any irritation at the blonde. If anything, he welcomed the change.

Xigbar supposed he should have been worried when Demyx had _that_ look in his eyes. Maybe he should have been more wary. It wasn't often that Demyx looked remotely intelligent anyway. That, and Demyx seemed to be implying something after that small conversation they'd had just a morning ago…

"_Hey, I talked to the new boy again, and then I realised something. He has nice eyes, Xiggy. They put mine to shame. They're like a pretty ocean-green colour almost!"_

"_Demyx, his name is Tidus. And his eyes aren't ocean-green. They're **cerulean**. Or whatever you call the damn shade"_

"_Xigbar… **how do you know**?"_

And then Demyx smiled.

* * *

"Sheesh Tidus! I told you that I was walking in the same direction as you because maybe I wanted you to wait!" An angry blonde with his hair side swept shouted angrily as he jogged slightly to catch up with his friend. Ah. Roxas Strife, the stubborn and occasionally overtly 'emo' fellow senior student and also one of Tidus' best friends. 

"Is it my fault you're so slow, Roxas?" Tidus answered flashing another grin as he headed towards a familiar looking house out of habit. As soon as he lifted blue eyes to look at the balcony a frown creased over his features. The painter wasn't there.

It was the first time since well… the beginning of anything that Xigbar wasn't there. The sheer idea of Tidus' favourite painter not being there was simply preposterous. Xigbar couldn't _not_-

"Tidus?" Roxas asked slowly as he walked to stand beside his friend, "You don't live here. I think I'd know if you did…"

"Oh?" Tidus replied vaguely, not actually paying attention to Roxas' question. Xigbar couldn't _not_ be there, it was just… not possible, fuck, and it was almost ritualistic and horrifically satanic for Xigbar to break the tradition. All of a sudden the front door slammed open as a blur of crimson red literally leaped out and pounced…

Onto Roxas.

"Axel. Get the fuck off of me"

"Can I help it if I just laid eyes on the love of my life?"

"Congratulations. You've just won a thousand dollars and a fish, but I really don't care. Now get off me."

"What, no 'I love you Axel and I want to fuck you senseless'?"

"Mmmm… Maybe later. But for now I think you're freaking out Tidus…"

Tidus, in the meant time was staring at the pair like they were abso-fucking-lutely insane. It's not like he had a good reason or anything to stare at them with that look of incredulity because it was just oh so **normal** to find out that one of your new best friends was gay with a fucking flamer who's hair only managed to reinforce the idea and that they were both very _very_ kinky and sexually active too. What the hell did a fish have to do with anything anyway?

Roxas Strife was definitely Tidus' friend, he'll give him that much. And well, _yes_ Tidus had thought that Roxas was anything _but_ straight since he had a horrible habit of acting like a little school girl and, Tidus could have _sworn_ he'd seen the blonde draw his name and some 'Axel' fellows name in a heart. Fag. Not that Tidus had anything against gays or anything. Tidus himself was 'bi-curious' as Yuna had so eloquently put it many a year ago.

Wait, wait, wait a minute. Xigbar had mentioned an 'Axel' once… oh yeah, that's right, '_Axel was completely trashed… tryin' to stop Axel from molesting the Shrimp_'. Was it just coincidence?

"Oops, my bad. I'm Axel Seika, Roxy's boyfriend, mostly a friendly guy… but if you mess with Roxy your balls are mine," A slightly nasal voice came from the red head, hair spiked up in an **echidna** (Yes, it _does_ say **echidna** so _no_ it isn't a **porcupine**) like fashion with startling green eyes boring idly into Tidus, twin black diamonds marked under each eye as several a pierced silver Sleeper curled around his left brow. A matching sleeper tugging at the corner of his mouth as countless piercings decorated each ear giving the twenty year old a somewhat 'gangster' look. Not that Tidus would ever say it to Red's face.

"Shut up Axel," Roxas scowled, but the merry twinkle in his crystalline blue eyes not diminishing indicating that he didn't exactly hate Axel for 'taunting' his friend. Ah. Roxas Strife; at a fairly stocky height that was barely half a head under Axel's towering one-eighty (centimetres that is, and for your Americans; that's like… six foot) with a mop of sideswept gold and eyes blue enough to almost rival Tidus' own. What, with an incredibly sadistic and 'emo' persona, Roxas was indefinitely someone you would not want on your bad side.

"Axel, Roxas doesn't live here" Ah, _finally_. Some semblance of an explanation in the form of a pirate-patched Xigbar Rasted was given as the painter slowly walked out of the house in order to stand on the porch, hair pulled back in it's typical tight pony-tail, the streak of silver contrasting to the ebony as a golden eye focused on Tidus, small smirk creeping over his features as he spoke again, "Yo Tidus"

Slowly, a smile blossomed over Tidus' tanned face as he greeted the man, eyes diverting from a somewhat heavy make-out scene between aforementioned red-head and blonde.

"How was your day?" Tidus asked with a grin, eventually leading into a small conversation of whether it was possible to eat cows or not. Tidus strictly stood by the idea that cows were inedible; this was possibly due to an old friend of his yelling at him about edible cows. And Xigbar, pretty much laughed in Tidus' face at the idea, his only reasoning being, 'If you can eat a human, raw, why the fuck can't you eat a properly cooked cow?'

Moments later, said blonde managed to extricate himself from Axel looking very flushed indeed, smiling slightly Roxas greeted Xigbar before looking inquiringly at the both of them, "But how the hell do you two know each other anyhow?"

"Tidus lives up the street," Xigbar supplied and jerked a thumb towards the blitzballer as the ocean-eyed boy nodded.

"What, really? So you're the 'dude who lives up Xiggy's street', to quote Dem?" Axel piped up with a curious lilt to his voice, mocking air quotes drawn in the air as he emphasised what Demyx had said several weeks ago. Roxas, next to him with his arms wrapped around a narrow waist, seemed to visibly frown at the mention of the aquamarine eyed male, but instantly it disappeared.

"Yeah"

* * *

Tidus gulped. Sweat slowly beading around his forehead as palms smoothed down the simple pair of girl jeans (Courtesy of one very hyper Yuna Eldeen whom had proudly proclaimed, 'You look fanfuckingtastic, You're a natural!' which might have been more of a compliment it they weren't girl pants but heh, Tidus isn't complaining) mentally wondering why he had even _thought_ of dragging these stupid _girl pants_ out and putting them on. Oh yeah, that's right. He didn't want to look bad when he met all of Xig- **Roxas'** friends. 

Inside, he was wondering what the hell he was doing. After a lengthy conversation with Axel, Roxas and Demyx two days ago, Tidus had somehow managed to be roped into attending a ritualistic 'Movie Night' that was hosted by Xigbar. And _that_, my dear friends, is why Tidus Faye was currently standing in front of a familiar cedar door, hand poised and ready to knock as he quickly mentally went over his appearance just one more time- since he _had not been doing that for the past ten minutes oh no siree!_

Hair ruffled in its usual style with a simple pale _pink_ shirt complimenting the already overtly feminine pants. No, Tidus was **not** a girl. He was just very effeminate. Yeah. That's about right. Anyway, eventually mustering up enough 'courage' to rap gently on the door, only to end up swept up in a tornado of the hyperactive mohawked and music-loving, Demyx Mizuno as a greeting. Laughing at Demyx's suddenly dejected look as Axel suddenly appeared in order to thwap the blonde over the head with a sardonic grin.

Pouting, and still tugging at Tidus' wrist, Demyx managed to drag Tidus into Xigbar's very… artistically inclined house. Cricking his neck in an effort to absorb the sheer number of paintings that decorated the walls so sporadically, Tidus was very amused to find a large mess of smooshed up colours 'decorating' a beige wall courtesy of Demyx as the dirty-blonde so proudly announced in answer to the blue-eyed youth's bemused look.

Passing a few closed doors and insignificant furniture until they _finally_ reached the lounge room. Sitting on the couch, was a small group of the most **retarded** people that Tidus would ever have the 'chance' to meet.

A young female who looked to be a year or so older than Tidus had platinum blonde hair that was styled in a fashion that had two attenae-like bangs decorating her forehead, she, was the 'fucking bitch', Larxene Inazuma.

Next to her, was 'the idiot who 'gave' Xigbar a missing eye', Saix Lunar, a male with dark azure hair at unmanly lengths complimented with a large cross in the middle of his face. Absolutely _charming_.

Next to him, was another male, with girly hair. Really. It was slate and styled in an odd 'I-will-cover-half-of-my-face-even-those-my-eyes-are-hot' manner. Think; Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing. Now, this 'emo' as Demyx affectionately referred to him as, was Zexion Leonheart. Don't ask. Supposedly he's related to Riku and Leon. But we all know that isn't true. Because we all know Zexion was a freakin' _emo_ and emo-kids are meant to be spoilt only children who don't know what the fuck they're talking about but think their life is shit.

Moving on, there was a pink haired fairy. No really. A fucking _fairy_ was next to Zexion. A fucking fairy with a too short pink top that pretty much read '_FAIRY_' and very tight black leather pants. Marluxia Sakura. Interesting name. Fucking fairy.

Now was it just him or were all of Xigbar's friends as flaming as the most fiery pit of hell? Except Larxene maybe. But wait, she wasn't attracted to any of the fairies so she must be a fairy too. Wonderful.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately for Tidus) the rest of their little 'posse' couldn't make it. Sora and Riku were taking advantage of the fact that Leon was over at the Strife household, Roxas was _here_ and so was Zexion, in order to screw each other's brains out. Wonderful, don't 'cha think? Some people called Xaldin, 'Mansex', Vexen and Luxord couldn't make it either. Something about Luxord gambling at another club, Mansex looking for more… man sex and Xaldin and Vexen were… baby-sitting. Fairies.

"No, Axel. We _can't_ watch that movie. It'll give me **nightmares**!" Roxas' voice emanated from the kitchen followed by Axel's nasally laugh, grinning at the recognition of someone familiar, Tidus made his own sweet way towards the kitchen. To be greeted by the sight of the youngest Strife brother running around the kitchen with Axel chasing him, a tall male standing at the counter watching them with an amused, golden eye.

The host of the 'movie night' nodding his head in greeting with a cup of punch or something or rather held in a coarse hand, he had donned a simple pair of slacks along with a black dress shirt. Tidus would eventually learn that Xigbar's wardrobe consisted of nothing _but_ slacks and dress shirts.

"Hey Tidus, Do you want to watch the Grudge Two?" Roxas suddenly asked, coming to a stop and held up a hand; Axel colliding into it much to Tidus' amusement and Roxas'. Paling slightly at the mere _mention_ of that movie Tidus looked blankly at Roxas, not trusting himself to answer without screaming bloody murder at the directors for killing Edison or whatever that hot Asian dude's name was.

"Oh but _Xiggy_ chose it. And Xiggy's host. So we have to watch it!" Axel cut in with a smirk aimed at both blondes, ignoring the evil glare that they both shot at him. Behind them all, Xigbar grinned slightly before mentioning that it actually wasn't _that_ scary, and 'if that's the case you can always grope Axel' before asking Tidus if he minded. Swallowing fear and getting ready to regret his choice, Tidus finally consented.

His life was over.

* * *

"Oh my god. They did _not_ just do that. They did _not_ just kill the hottest Asian dude in the whole world. THAT'S BLASPHEMY!" 

"Shut up Demyx!"

"But- But- It's utter BLASPHEMY. Edison can't **die**, he's just… BLASPHEMY I TELL YOU!"

"Demyx, shut the fuck up or I'll cut you"

"BLASPHEMY!"

"You know, It's actually a pity that they deformed his face… it was pretty. Just like my flowers"

"SHUT UP!"

"EDISON DIED! IT'S LIKE THE ARMAGEDDON ALL OVER AGAIN"

"Zexion. Get your boyfriend to shut the fuck up or I'll gut you **both**"

Tidus was inclined to agree. But as soon as he remembered what was going to happen to Edison's very pretty face he had immediately decided to latch onto the nearest warm and un-liquid-y object and bury his face into it. That 'object' just happened to be Xigbar. Funnily enough, the painter didn't seem to object that much.

_End of Part One_

**A/N:  
**Well. When asking the fanfuckingtastic Psycho Rooster what she wanted as a Birthday Fic, she immediately said 'Two words. Xigbar and Tidus'. And I started fretting. But eventually I came up with a somewhat sufficient plot and well… my best friend says that PR is Crazy and wanted to torment me by telling me to write this pairing. And I am very much inclined to agree with her.

This fic, although the title and summary say otherwise, actually won't have anything to do with drugs. Really. Maybe just occasional mentions of it but nothing that means that all the little kiddies in the world should run and hide.

Note that, this isn't my usual style. I'm aiming for a more vague approach at all of this, that and I'm on a Line Breaker Happy phase. So bear in mind that this probably isn't/won't be one of my best works.

Also. Review! I love them. Really. But I don't angst over them as much as PR. If you flame me, I will laugh at you. Unless, you're PR, in which case I will cry and burn my computer. But whatever. Review!

Love You Always, Acrimony


	2. Second Movement

**Love Like Morphine  
**Part Two && Second Movement  
_Acrimony_

That one movie night soon turned into two. Which soon turned into four. Which soon turned into- You get the drift. The small group of friends grew tight and it was rare that one would go anywhere without being in the company of at least one other. At least, in Tidus's case it was. Xigbar and the aforementioned blonde continued to bask in each other's presence- platonically speaking- although Tidus occasionally wondered what it would be like to break that barrier away. And yes, the influence of Axel and Roxas' relationship that seemed to be absolutely perfect was probably a factor of that too.

Roxas, Tidus couldn't help but notice, always tensed whenever anyone mentioned the name 'Demyx' for some reason that he couldn't fathom. He especially frowned when it was _Axel_ who mentioned the blonde musician, but Tidus always dismissed the frown as a trick of light.

Demyx, it appeared was on an on and off relationship with one very 'sexy' Zexy. Meaning that Demyx pretty much blew hot and cold depending on his mood. Yet, Tidus also couldn't help but notice that a certain Red-head might have something to do with that too… that, and Demyx wasn't always the most amiable towards the youngest Strife.

But maybe that was just a figment of his imagination. After all, Roxas and Axel fit together about as well as chocolate and marshmallows in S'mores. They were perfect, if you asked him. Their relationship was like a boat really. Roxas was like the sail and Axel was the playful breeze. And it was all smooth sailing.

At school, Tidus had continued to play Centre Forward, with the 'Hollow Hawks' steadily creeping up the ranks and preparing for the semi-finals. This meant that the time the blonde youth spent in the company of Xigbar was fairly limited. The Hawks' captain, Riku Leonheart, was surprisingly strict about training, hoping that for once the Hawks would actually _win_ the Finals, and _not_ come second to the Radiant –And Retarded- Roosters of Radiant High.

But even though the morning visits and after school visits were now limited, Tidus often found himself in the company of the painter on Friday evenings and occasionally the weekend. It was those kind of moments that seemed to be the highlight of Tidus' blitzball-filled weeks, and well… let's just say that Xigbar didn't object to them either.

As for Xigbar, he found himself agreeing to attend some Art Convention/Exhibition-thing in a few weeks. It turned out that his art was considered 'inspirational to the next generation' and he was to be the Guest Speaker. This, not only surprised Larxene, but caused Saix to walk into a perfectly immobile door out of shock. Some friends.

* * *

Tidus blinked and turned, only to come face to face with one Seifer Almasy and his two idiot lackeys. Or rather, one bumbling idiot and another poker-faced rock lackey; also known as Fuu and Rai. Fuu being the closet emo girl and Rai being the rocks for brains guy; both of them flanking the Beanbag-wearing blonde. All three of them were on the Blitzball team and they had a reputation for being absolutely _ruthless_ during games. 

Up until now, the three had absolutely nothing to do with Tidus. In fact, he pretty much ignored their existence, only noting them when Seifer got yelled at for being too violent, Rai for just being, well, Rai and Fuu for being an unco-operative bitch who hogged the ball all the time. Another noticeable incident was when they attempted to shove Roxas around only to end up getting a fist in the face for pissing him off _again_.

Vaguely, the tanned boy recognised the voice as belonging to Rai, his characteristic 'ya'know' being the only clue as to the owner.

"Yes?"

"You play really well, ya'know," Rai continued, heavily tanned arms latching onto a blitzball as Tidus nodded a faint blush out of modesty dancing over his face.

"Uh, thanks?" He offered meekly, he didn't want to say it but Seifer, Fuu and Rai sure as hell looked intimidating…

"Let's go hang" Seifer cut in suddenly, stormy eyes narrowing dangerously at the blonde, it was a look that clearly stated, 'You don't have a choice in the matter'. Tidus swallowed thickly, eyes darting nervously around the changing rooms and noting that it was empty of all persons, save for himself and the freaky Trio.

"Uhm, I can't. I have to get home to finish an assignment," Training was on for two hours and a half after school, if Tidus was lucky, he would manage to get to home with forty minutes or so to spare which he could spend on homework before heading over to Xigbar's for another Movie Night. That night they were going to watch 'The Brother's Grimm', one of Yuna's favourite movies that the blonde boy had not yet had the chance to watch yet.

"Really? I'm in almost all of your classes Tidus, you don't _have_ any assignments," Seifer answered darkly and latched onto his arm in a blood-cutting grip. Glancing over at Rai with a sharp jerk of his head, he pretty much dragged the blonde out of the Changing Rooms and into the hallways; Fuu snickering darkly to herself with Rai at the end, towing Tidus' bag along.

"I told Roxas that I'd help him with something," Tidus tried feebly, attempting to dig his heels into the slippery linoleum floor only to continue being _dragged_ towards an unfamiliar section of the school.

Hollow Bastion High was a large two storey building, two wings decorating the sides and several small study rooms ornamenting every where else that wasn't occupied by the large class rooms and other necessary resource rooms. The 'Solander' Wing was where the Science rooms were, and the 'Yunalesca' Wing was for the creative arts. The wings were named after the first Headmaster and Headmistress of the school, and Tidus, so far had never set foot in the Yunalesca Wing.

"Oh but we won't be long," Seifer taunted with a sickeningly sweet smile as they stepped into a large art room. Sculptures stood in corners, paintings on the wall, a clay station at the back of the room and two elongated and very _large_ tables were in the centre of it all. Several canvases stood isolated from the palettes and other painting implements and several large pieces of Calico were torn up in a heap elsewhere. It was artistic chaos at best.

A poster was pinned into a notice board bearing colours and a simple slogan, 'Art Exhibition!' the finer text revealing that the school was only going to let five students attend the exhibition as it was a highly prestigious opening for some Art Gallery. However, a small name caught a cerulean eye, 'Xigbar Rasted'. _Ah,_ Thought Tidus with a grin,_ so that's what's got him so worked up about picking three paintings_.

"The art rooms?" Tidus asked incredulously after snapping out of his temporary stupor, eyes settling on the stoic, silver-haired Fuu in confusion. The girl merely shrugged and gestured towards Seifer whom had slipped away to stand in front of a canvas and ultimately, it's painting.

It was a pretty thing really, a blonde boy was cowering outside a door, head tilted upwards, his face a picture of fleeting pain as blue eyes connected with mockingly emerald orbs. Crimson hair protruding from the transparent figure's head as its torso seemed to lean out of the door, wry smile dancing over the paled cream. It was simple, yet not. The red-head wasn't even fully solid. He was more of a ghost. A corporeal creature who looked so perfect with the blonde.

In the corner of the artwork, Tidus noticed with a small smile that a simple name was messily scrawled in watercolour-blue, 'Naminè'

Tidus was so focused in absorbing the sheer emotion of the painting that he hardly noticed when Seifer began rummaging through a bag that Fuu had carried, grinning triumphantly he procured a lighter.

"Hey, Tidus, bring the painting over here for a bit will you?" He covered the lighter with his hand as the blonde absentmindedly picked up the painting and headed towards the trio. A decidedly evil sneer was on Fuu's expression and Rai just looked bored. Seifer, on the other hand seemed to be on the verge of laughing hysterically.

Pity, Tidus didn't notice.

"This is really good…" He muttered distractedly as he held it out for Seifer to examine.

Now let's just think about this for a moment. Given the fact that Tidus didn't actually know Seifer very well, he naturally assumed that Seifer wanted to see how Naminè painted it and all of that other artistic jazz that Seifer would _naturally_ want to know. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that Naminè was Roxas' best friend and therefore was on Roxas' side by **proxy**. Nor did it have anything to do with the fact that she did better than Fuu in art class. And _neither_ did the fact that Naminè was just little miss _perfect_ have to do with what would happen next.

"Yeah, it is. Now hold it out for me"

Two seconds later there was the flickering sound of a lighter flaring.

Three seconds later the flame was held close towards the corner of the painting.

Five seconds later the lighter was retracted.

Six seconds later a small ember rose into a glowing flame.

Seven seconds later, Tidus noticed that there was _smoke_ coming from the painting.

Eight seconds later Seifer, Fuu and Rai ran out of the art rooms, dark laughter trailing in their wake.

Ten seconds later and Tidus was panicking. The flame had grown into a small blaze. The painting was on fire.

But it was all ten seconds too late.

A high-pitched scream tore Tidus from the flame-induced stupor. His gaze had been focused on the climbing flames, the painting burning and the image of tranquillity turning into a disgusting smoke. He glanced once at the vocalist and swore. _Someone. Kill me._

Oh, Well, "Fuck"

Naminè.

* * *

It was roughly seven thirty when Xigbar finally gave in to Larxene's horrible nails-on-chalkboard screeching and pressed the play button on the remote. Resisting the urge to sigh angrily as the blonde bitch simply snatched the black, plastic 'stick from hell' (to quote a drunk Saix) in order to skip through the previews. 

"Finally!" She crowed and then pressed the play button, enraptured by the amusing opening scenes. Xigbar, in the mean time was annoyed. Annoyed, worried and confused. You see, there was something wrong with this particular Movie Night.

They were missing a blonde.

Roxas was curled up on the carpet beside Axel, eyes focused on the television screen and Demyx… was scowling. Larxene was sitting next to Saix and himself, as usual and well… Vexen was the only other 'blonde' that he knew, save for one. Tidus Faye was not there.

Usually, the blonde would be over at around five thirty, but then again, he had heard that Riku demanded that they have a Blitzball Practice until five thirty, which meant that he should have arrived at six. Instead of Tidus, Sora and Riku had arrived straight from Blitzball and upon the golden-eyed man's inquiring, had mentioned that they thought Tidus had left as soon as practice was over.

Smiling innocently at Xigbar's question, _Roxas_ had simply told the painter that maybe Tidus was late. _For once_. But the painter couldn't help but think that something- something or _anything_ was off. It just wasn't _like_ Tidus to do something like this. It wasn't anything that the cheerful blonde would do.

It was at this moment that Xigbar left the couch (having kicked Marluxia off it earlier) and headed towards the kitchen in order to grab himself a bottle of beer. Or maybe two. Or three… let's just make it four. Not that it was all for him of course, Axel wanted a bottle and so did Saix. And well, knowing Saix and his chronic addiction to beer… Xigbar was willing to bet that the azure haired male would relieve him of the third bottle.

Xigbar, it could be noted, was still on edge. And this perhaps was what caused Roxas to shrug off Axel's arm and follow the eye-patched male into the kitchen with every intention of a confrontation. Roxas Strife was not exactly _close, close_ with Xigbar, but he was getting there. Throw in a Xigbar-being-worried-about-Roxas'-newest-friend and you get an encounter. And that was exactly what the blonde had intended on…

If he didn't crash into Xigbar's back two seconds later, that is.

"Heh?"

No reply.

"Xigbar?"

"…What is he _doing_?"

"What? Xigbar, are you okay?"

"…Where is he going?"

"What?"

Roxas caught on. Vivid blue eyes following a single gold orb he as he finally realized what, or rather, who had captured the older male's eye. Ah, the benefits of living on the same street as 'the object of your affections', the blonde thought with a wry smirk and debated over whacking Xigbar over the head in order to pull him out from the Blitzballer-induced stupor.

"Oh." The youngest Strife then muttered and nodded his head in what appeared to be a horrible attempt of a sagely manner. Then, "You know, if you wanted- I mean, since you've already seen this movie and all- too, you could go and uh, take a walk. Like. A really long walk."

Xigbar pulled his gaze away from the window and the distant figure of a blonde disappearing behind the slope of Second Avenue's hill, in order to glance down at the stocky youth and arch a brow. Roxas sustained his smirk before continuing what he had previously stated, "Actually, you should go for a walk. I mean, one of us is gonna have to. And if you please, I kind of want to stay here and make sure that nothing… happens"

Realization dawned on Xigbar as he nodded to Roxas' suggestion. Pulling open the refrigerator's door and collecting a trio of beer bottles before dumping them into the blonde's arms, ("Try not to kill him if he tries"), exiting the kitchen and picking up a coat. As he headed out the door, Xigbar could hear with vague amusement Axel's interrogation.

"Where's Xiggy going?"

"For a long walk"

"Really? To do what?"

"I'm not going to say"

"Awwws! But Rox- mmph!"

It was nice to know that those two were so co-operative.

* * *

_Number Seventeen… Eighteen… Why am I even doing this?_ Xigbar found himself standing outside a cedar door, having previously knocked the handle, waiting patiently for the resident of the house to open the damn door and let him in. But that was a really good question, just _why_ was Xigbar there visiting a _friend_- he supposed Tidus was a friend, after all, you wouldn't call him a stranger or an acquaintance, even-? He would be lying if he said that he didn't care about the small blonde's emotional state. He would be lying if he said he didn't care about Tidus at all. He would be lying about whatever it was that he felt for the cerulean-eyed youth, and that was enough to force drastic measures. 

Well, drastic enough for a Painter who didn't care about anything as long as everything looked the same.

"X-Xigbar?" The door was pulled open and the eye-patched man was greeted by the aforementioned youth, his hair was even more unruly than usual and his eyes were tinted pink indicating tears. Wordlessly stepping aside and sweeping an arm in a horribly practiced looking manner, Tidus's eyes flickered from the door towards the inside of the house. None of the lights were on, save for one upstairs. _Probably his bedroom…_

Arm mindlessly groping along the wall to find the hall's light switch –and flicking it on-, the blonde walked through the hall way, gesturing for his 'street neighbour' to follow; the door soundlessly swung back to close as the pair left the hallway to enter a still dark Living room. Or, what appeared to be a living room at least. Mumbling a soft apology and switching on the lights before sitting down on a couch and motioning for Xigbar to do the same.

"I came to check up on you, I- we noticed that you didn't come over, earlier, like you were meant to," He supplied, quickly covering up the minor slip and changing it into the idea that the whole group of friends were concerned over the Blitzballer's suspicious absence but evidently it wasn't done well enough since Tidus immediately flushed at the slight implication. Xigbar, of course, didn't notice, "We were worried"

"Oh," Was the only answer Tidus could really give. Guilt clawed at his stomach as his mind remembered the platinum-blonde Namine's anguish at the fate of her painting; and it was this that prevented him from unleashing all of his woes upon the unsuspecting Painter. _Painter_, if Tidus told Xigbar what he'd inadvertently done, well; let's just say that the blonde _really_ doubted that Xigbar would be sympathetic towards him. If anything, he'd be sympathetic to Namine. And Tidus didn't really need that at the moment.

The pair lapsed into a companionable silence with Xigbar unconsciously studying the youth's profile a little more carefully, noting how the light played against tanned flesh and a small frown creased over his forehead. Shoulders were slumped in a downcast manner as lips were tugged into a small frown. That did it, something was undeniably wrong and Xigbar was going to find out what it was. No matter _how_ long it took.

"She hates me," Tidus then bluntly stated, looking up slightly to look at Xigbar, sadness dancing through cerulean eyes. Xigbar's reaction was a slow blink. _She?_ It figured that someone like Tidus would be angst-ing over a **girl**. The painter couldn't help but narrow his eye slightly, _all of this fuss over a girl?_

"She?"

"Namine Eldorne," Tidus answered, fingers tapping restlessly against the surface of a small table whose only occupant was an ivory-coloured lamp. _Namine? Isn't that one of Roxas' friends?_ Xigbar thought to himself, privately he wondered why _anyone_ would like her. She was such a… sheep. To quote Axel.

"Oh?"

"I burned her painting-," Throwing all caution to the wind and then shifting his body till he was full facing Xigbar, Tidus proceeded to recount what had happened.

* * *

"_Tidus!? What- what are you doing?" Was the first thing out of the small blonde's mouth as pale blue eyes surveyed the burning painting with an expression of abject mortification. She squinted slightly, trying to recognise who had annoyed Tidus enough to warrant this kind of revenge. She could vaguely recognise it form somewhere… _

_Red spiky-hair…_

_Tidus ignored her, running quickly towards the sink and flinging the burning object into the metal tub, turning on the cold water and watching as the flames turned into drowning embers. Rubbing at his eyes as plumes of grey smoke lashed at him, he twisted the tap's knob towards the right allowing the small stream of water to turn into a strong torrent. Two seconds later when all traces of fire was gone, he reversed the knob until the currents ceased altogether. Namine, in the meantime had approached the blonde from behind, trying to remember why the colour Red screamed at her so much._

_And then she put it altogether and collapsed crying softly. What had she done to deserve this?_

"_That painting's mine, isn't it?" She managed to mumble over and over again._

_It appeared to be a scene out of a movie as suddenly the smoke alarms turned on and sprinklers that decorated the ceilings started gushing out water droplets, liquid drenching Tidus' spikes as Namine's blouse hugged her figure. The girl's tears seemed to be camouflaged among the water trickling down her face but Tidus knew better; the muffled sobs coming from her shaking frame being an indication as to the platinum blonde's current state of mind._

"_N-Namine," He gaped slowly, as though finally realising that she actually was there, Sure, earlier he had thought it was her, but he was kind of preoccupied with putting out the small fire that was her painting. He just had to have had the best of luck, didn't he? "It isn't what it looks like, really!"_

_She looked at him with a broken expression. It was obvious that she **knew** he was lying._

"_Okay no," He sighed and tried again, attempting to step towards the shaking girl but she whimpered and stepped back; she didn't want to be anywhere near the blitzballer, "Scratch that. It actually is exactly how it looks. Kind of. But it wasn't me who did it!"_

"_Namine Eldorne, Tidus Faye. What is the meaning of this!?" A light, articulate tenor voice weighed down with shock stopped Tidus from elaborating on his oxymoron. Resisting the urge to impale himself on the nearest paintbrush, Tidus couldn't help but fume and curse at whatever sick deity was out there. _

_Headmaster Ansem was at the doorway of the Art Room, tanned face an expression of astonishment as he surveyed the two sprinkler-drenched teens. With sharp gold eyes and dreamy silver hair, Tidus's only solace was the fact that Ansem was a dead ringer for 'grumpy old Xemnas'. And well, that was about it. Could he help it if he had a lame sense of humour and found amusement in the fact that Xemnas and Headmaster Ansem looked like they were twins gone wrong?_

"_H-Headmaster Ansem!?" _

_

* * *

_

"_So, am I to believe that Seifer Almasy, Fuujin Torrens and Raijin Thames somehow coerced you into visiting the Art Rooms where you happen to have **never** been to before during your stay in our school and tricked you into holding out Namine's painting as Seifer managed to light it on fire with you noticing only when it was almost completely incinerated?," Headmaster Ansem pinched the bridge of his nose with his fore finger and thumb. Tidus never really understood why people did that; apparently it helped relieve one's stress. But when he had tried he had earned nothing except an aching headache._

"_NO! I mean, yes. But, no. But-" Tidus couldn't decide on what to answer with. Did Ansem _really_ have to turn him into such an antagonistic evil-doer? He didn't do it on purpose, already. But the silver-haired male really only succeeded in wedging the slab of guilt into his heart even further. _

_The trio had left the Art rooms, with Ansem smashing a button in order to turn the sprinklers off and calling the Fire Department in order to call off the siren-ing fire brigades. Now, they were back in the Headmaster's Office. Ansem sitting with an aura of disappointment in his office-like chair with Tidus sitting opposite him with a mahogany desk in between and Namine sitting by his side, tear tracks still ornamented her face as slightly bloodshot eyes looked with a strange hollowness at the window. The cerulean-eyed male frowned again as Ansem raised a brow. He didn't want to deny what had been done. But he didn't want to admit to doing something he hadn't done, especially if it made him sound like a criminal._

_For some odd reason he had a theory that as soon as word got out about what had happened, Roxas would skin him alive. Roxas and Namine weren't best friends for nothing, after all. _

"_Which is it Mister Faye? I do hope you realise that lying will get you **nowhere** and that we hope to deal with this quickly so that Miss Eldorne will be able to receive compensation of some sort. Or so that we can at least punish whoever is responsible. Also, if you didn't notice, the Art Rooms have Video Cameras... So rest assure, Mister Faye, I **will know** if you are lying"_

"_But I didn't burn the painting! Why **would** I do it? No offence, Namine, but you and I aren't close enough for me to have a personal vendetta against you"_

"_What about Seifer, Fuujin and Raijin then?"_

"_Seifer? That's easy," Tidus mused to himself, "He probably doesn't like you because you're Roxas' best friend. Therefore you are on Roxas' side by Proxy. Fuujin though… well, she **does** seem to be the type to hold grudges. And well, Raijin is just a tag-a-long…"_

_Namine flinched. Try as she might, the feeling of unease continued to claw at her. Her? Namine Eldorne not liked? Blasphemy. **Everyone** liked Namine Eldorne. It was one of the few facts of life! She wasn't mean, she didn't backstab… she was a great friend and she was smart. She was **perfect**. Or as close as anyone could get to being perfect. Namine wasn't used to the idea of not being liked. Even if it was by low scum like Seifer, Fuu and Rai. At least, that was Tidus' impression of what would be running through the blonde's head right now._

"…_You do understand that this supposed 'recount' you're telling me sounds remarkably like a very poorly constructed excuse," Ansem said darkly. Tidus sighed, briefly wondering why the hell Ansem had brought up the topic of recorders if he wasn't even going to use them as evidence or whatnot. _

"_I swear that that's what happened. I don't go around burning people's paintings for petty revenge. Because that's just rude," The blonde male repeated with a frustrated sigh. How the hell did he get himself into this situation anyway? Oh yeah. That's right. He was dragged along to witness and 'take part' in the burning of Namine's artwork. _I'm going to murder Seifer,_ He thought to himself, glaring at an annoyingly **gay** snow globe that sat on Headmaster Ansem's desk. _

"_Tidus, I'd like to believe you, but you already admitted to being there at the scene of the crime and that makes you look incredibly guilty already."_

"_You could check the video recorders you know" Tidus finally snapped, angrily glaring at the silver-haired male, "And are you by any chance related to Xemnas?"_

"_Ah. I suppose I could, but I was hoping it wouldn't get to that; it's very tedious. And why yes, I do have a brother called Xemnas. How do you know that?"_

"_He's… a friend of a friend," The blonde frowned as he vaguely realised something. It was Friday. Friday equals Movie Night. Movie Night then equals time with Xig- friends. And he wasn't there. Xigbar was going to murder him. Well, not if Roxas did first. Brow creasing over with the sheer weight of frustration at Ansem, anger at Seifer and his idiotic lackeys, and for some odd reason a lack of sympathy for Namine crashing down on him. Add stress over how annoyed Xigbar would be at him not showing up (Not that Tidus knew how badly Xigbar was fretting at the moment, although he **was** hoping) and Tidus was prepared to lose his mind, "Would I be allowed to go any time soon? I have someplace urgent to be". Nevermind being rude, Tidus was on the brink of insanity with the need to get out of Ansem's office. And not incur the wrath of Xigbar. _

"_Wait a moment longer, Tidus, my assistant will be here with the tapes and then we can decide," As if on cue, a tall, thin and sickeningly pale green woman stalked into the room. Knobbly body looking dwarfed by the dress she wore and gripped in her pale hands was a tape. Turning towards a shelf where a television set lay innocently on one of its benches –Briefly Tidus wondered how the hell he didn't notice that earlier-, pushed the tape in and pressed the play button. _

_Looking expectantly at the screen, Ansem scowled darkly as his assistant pressed fast forward towards the part where the Art Rooms actually had occupants. Sure enough, Seifer, Fuujin and Raijin sauntered into the room, looking like they owned the place with Tidus bearing a 'lost puppy' look. Watching with sharp eyes, Ansem blinked with a note of contemplation as Tidus held up Namine's Painting (Which shall from here on be referred to as 'Pink Spider') and commented on it. Seifer snorted and rolled his eyes; except now looking on from the Camera's point of view, Tidus could distinctly make out the bean-bag wearing male pull out a lighter from a bag and then hide it cleverly from the blonde at the time of the crime._

_Glaring darkly at the television's screen as he watched himself hold out the painting innocently and the next ten seconds passing by in a flash. _

_Namine, sitting next to him gasped out loud in horror as she witnessed what had **really** happened and Ansem too looked on with an expression of sheer disbelief. Scowling darkly as the lady pressed the stop button and was excused ("You may leave now, Maleficent"), Ansem quickly pulled out a manila folder from a filing cabinet, rifling through its contents until he found a certain file. Picking up a few sheets of paper and picking up the phone he proceeded to punch in a number and promptly forgot about the two blondes as he moved on to talk about a certain Seifer Almasy's behaviour with what Tidus presumed would be Almasy's father._

* * *

"- and she kept telling me that it wasn't my fault, but I _know_ it's my fault! If I wasn't such an idiot and punched Seifer then none of this would have happened. Pink Spider would still be intact, I would have been here to hang out with you and Seifer wouldn't be screaming bloody murder at me upon sight! I'm such a fuck up! And do you know what's worse?" Tidus breathed in, a pink flush working its way along his face and neck causing Xigbar to involuntarily and unnoticeably gulp at the flustered and dare he say it, _cute_ blonde licked his parched lips slightly before continuing, "Pink Spider was a **competition entry**! 

It was so she could enter some Art Competition that would get her into some fancy Art Exhibition in a few weeks! And I **burnt** it! Okay, so maybe I didn't, but I inadvertently caused it! And now she can't enter the stupid competition! And now she won't win because **nothing** could be better than Pink Spider! It was just, _that good_"

Slightly miffed at the insinuation that his paintings weren't as good as this 'Pink Spider', Xigbar immediately ignored it and focused on the fact that Namine's painting was a competition entry for an Art Exhibition.

And Art Exhibition where Xigbar's paintings would be one of the main features of the Exhibition.

An Art Exhibition that Xigbar was going to invite Tidus Faye to come along to.

And that Xigbar Rasted had only one pass for.

"And, I'm no artist. So I can't draw her anything that she could enter instead, either! And she _really_ wanted attend the Exhibition!" Tidus paused again and looked at Xigbar. The golden-eyed painter's eye glinting with sympathy for the blonde's predicament, he, of course had a way out of the problem. But the question was… whether to be selfish and force Tidus to forget Namine and attend the Exhibition with him, or tell Tidus to give the girl the damn pass. Xigbar was torn between the two options.

All of a sudden Xigbar's pocket began to vibrate. Pulling out his _cell_ phone and pressing the 'receive' button, the ebony-haired male greeted the caller gruffly, talking for a few moments before a small smile crept along his scarred features. It was good news.

"Guess what" He said as he re-pocketed the cell, the smile on his face not moving. He had a feeling that Tidus would be back to his usual cheerful self after he told him this. For some reason, Xigbar didn't like the idea of Tidus being upset and stressed. If anything, he missed the cheerful, laughing blonde that so innocently inquired about his paintings and whatnot.

Blinking, and looking at Xigbar with a hint of confusion, Tidus answered with the obvious, "What?"

"You know the Art Exhibition that's displaying my Art in a few weeks?" Tidus nodded slowly, still not comprehending, "Well, a friend of mine who was going to come along just pulled out. Do you know what that means?"

"I'm going to be selfish for a moment and assume that you did _not_ just get a ticket to the Exhibition for Namine"

"Better. I have one for you and her"

"Are you serious?"

Nod.

"I love you"

And the next thing Xigbar knew, he had Tidus' very kissable lips pressed up against his own.

Life was good.

_

* * *

_

* * *

**A/N:** -Is busy yelling profanities at the world and homework, and obnoxiously annoying mothers, and idiotic writing, and stupid stories and stupid un co-operative characters- 

REVIEW. Now. Stress is getting to me.

Love, Acrimony.


End file.
